Splitting Heirs (1993)

 

An Englishman (Eric Idle), who was adopted and raised by Pakistani immigrants, discovers that he is actually the 15th Duke Of Bournemouth and the current Duke (Rick Moranis) is, in fact, the son of a cook (Brenda Bruce) who switched the infants shortly after birth. Directed by Robert Young and written by Idle of Monty Python fame. The film is an update of those popular (though I've never been much of a fan of them) British Ealing comedies. In this case, the film referenced is KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS. In that 1949 film, a man attempts to murder the eight people who stand in the line to his   Dukedom. Here, it's Idle who attempts to get rid of Moranis. It's fitfully amusing but never coalesces into much beyond a quick (it runs less than 90 minutes) and quickly forgettable romp. Moranis, Idle and John Cleese (who plays an attorney) may be the comedy veterans in the cast but the film is stolen by Barbara Hershey as the nymphomaniac Duchess mother. She seems to be having a blast and her spunk is infectious. With Catherine Zeta Jones, Eric Sykes and Sadie Frost.